NEXUS
by ZipUnZipIt
Summary: He lives on the streets, on the edge. She lives in the light, for the moment. They have nothing in common, but then again, things are more connected than you might think.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so I changed the name but that didn't help with my writer's block. I've got a few other stories going on so until those are well under way I won't be updating this one. I'm thinking of changing it to an all-human story (no wings) because I've already got another story where the flock has wings and I don't want to be redundant. If I do change it to all human, then the first couple of chapters will probably remain the same because there's not really any mention of wings (and if there is, I could probably edit it out and still make it work). **

**Until then, this is all there is for now... Sadly this has to go on hiatus :( **

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><p><strong><em>FANG POV<em>**

It was dark, and it was shadowy. I walked quickly and quietly down the street. Not looking too suspicious, but looking like I had a purpose. The dim light from the flickering streetlights illuminated the shadows of the street and I quickened my pace. The silence was almost deafening, but then I heard rustling behind me.

I turned around to see a shadow dart behind a building. I broke into a run. The package I was holding –it was worth a _lot_ of money. I didn't want any trouble –at least, not more than was necessary. A car rolled out of the shadows and down the street. I was hoping that it would just drive past me, but it screeched to a halt right in front of me.

The passenger side of the old, beat-up black Civic opened the door and looked at me. It was too dark to see the person's face, but I realized that they could see mine in the glow of the streetlamps. He spoke. "You going to see the boss?"

I cleared my throat. "I am."

"Get in."

I didn't trust this car or the people in it any more than I trusted that McDonald's beef was real beef. I held the package close to my chest. It was my only bargaining tool. "Why?" I asked.

"J.J. wants us to bring you to him."

I held the package closer. "That wasn't part of the plan."

A black gun was thrust out of the window and into my face. "Plans change."

So I got into the car. It's not like I had a ton of other options at that point. As I positioned myself on the cracked, black leather seats, the partition between the backseat and the front seat went up. I couldn't see anyone in the front seats. We drove in silence for a few minutes, the gun still pointed at my face. I leaned back and tried to look as nonchalant as possible.

The car suddenly stopped, and the door opened before I could do it myself. I stepped out of the car and was immediately grabbed by two burly guys in trench coats. They led me through dark, dank rooms until we reached the largest, dankest room of them all. "Smells like shit in here." I muttered. Upon closer examination, with my superlative night vision, I deduced that we were in a used car store of some kind. That would explain the racks of tools, the gasoline smell, and the rusty car parts everywhere.

"So… Fang… what brings you here?" A deep voice from the shadows reverberated.

"I have the package." I said clearly, already starting to regret this. I held it out in plain sight, so J.J. and everyone else could see.

"Hand it over." the voice from the shadows said.

"Not until you pay me."

The shadow moved slightly. I heard a sound that sounded like a smirk. "Fang."

"That's the deal. No money, _no package." _I whispered, careful to let my voice crack. I wanted to do my best to seem like a weakling, like someone that could be taken down easily. I wasn't exactly impressing him. "Please." I heard myself whispering.

The shadow let out a throaty, deep laugh. "_Please?_ You dare walk into my territory, stumble upon my meeting, and say _please_? You're lucky if I don't rip your spine out of your back!"

"I… I just want to make it." I muttered, backing up as far as I could. I just wanted the money. Was that so much to ask? Yeah. Yeah, it was. Goddammit.

J.J. laughed again. All I could see was the glint of his teeth in the dusty air and the shine of his knife. "This kid is pathetic. Couldn't they send anyone better? More imposing?"

"I just want to make it." I said again, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat and J.J. smirked.

"You're a seventeen-year-old kid living on the streets. Let J.J.'s men show you what happens when a little toothpick wanders into someone else's business." He snapped his fingers, and three giant, burly bodybuilders stepped out of the shadows. Two of them grabbed my arms and the third one made a fist and blew on it, then paused to leer at me. Before his fist made contact with my face, however, J.J.'s voice called from the shadows, "Stop."

The muscly goon that was about to punch me looked disappointed, but moved aside. Then, J.J. finally stepped out of the shadows and I got my first good look at him. He was tall and big, with huge black muscular arms that stretched his leather jacket too much. His eyes were obscured with shades and his head was as bald and shiny as a gold ring. J.J. leered at me. "Have you ever floored someone, kid? Probably not. You probably can't even hit a cat. Anyway, I've been part of many fights in my time, but I never had the honor of taking someone's lights out before. Someone so… helpless. Someone who needs to be taught a lesson." He took off his leather jacket, revealing gigantic arms. One of his arms was probably as wide as me. My heart beat faster, but I wasn't going to flinch. Adrenaline started pumping into my bloodstream.

"Go for it." I said, snarling at him.

J.J. looked affronted and aimed a blow at my face. It was really fast, and probably would have hit me too, if I didn't dive roll out of the way at lightning speed. J.J.'s fist collided with the stomach of one of his goons that had been holding me, and I smirked.

He actually looked surprised. Well, more surprised than irritated, at least. Rubbing his fist, he stared at me. I was standing up, adjusting my hair, without a scratch. J.J. looked at his men, who looked just as stupefied as he. Regaining his composure quickly, he said to his men, "Kill that kid."

I didn't have time to think, only react. The first two goons came at me simultaneously. One of them was holding a pair of garden shears, the other a socket wrench. I grabbed the first thing I could find off the ground –a crowbar –and blocked the first one's measly attempt to behead me. I grabbed one end of his crowbar and flipped it, hard, so that he went flying into a nearby shelf of oil. The second one looked a little warier, and charged a little slower than the first guy. Big mistake. I slammed my crowbar into his gut and heard the satisfying sound of his ribs cracking. He bent over, wheezing, and I slammed my fist into the back of his neck, sending him crumpling to the floor.

J.J. looked a little more surprised than before, but I didn't have time to laugh at him. Four more thugs came after me. I kicked one in the ribs while punching another one in the face. I heard the crack which meant I had broken his nose, and within another thirty seconds I had floored all six gorillas. Now it was just me and J.J.

He looked kind of chary now. "How did you… You're a toothpick."

I leaned on my handy-dandy crowbar. "Guess you underestimated me. Now, _give me the money_. Unless you want to end up like your friends." I nudged one of the unconscious thugs with my foot.

Scowling, he reached into his leather jacket pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. I inhaled deeply, savoring the sight of all that cash. $10,000 could take me wherever I wanted to go. I could do whatever I wanted. "Fucking toothpick." he muttered, slowly holding the wad of cash out to me.

As I reached out to take it, J.J. moved with such speed that I barely registered what was happening until I saw the tip of the blade soar through the air. But by then, it was too late. The knife hit me in the shoulder, causing me to stagger backwards and nearly fall. Pain rippled through my arms as I scrambled to get up, swearing profusely. "Fuck!" I yelled, as blood dripped from my wound onto the ground.

By the time I managed to scramble back to my feet, J.J. and the money were both gone. I wanted to go after him, show him what I was really capable of, but the blood loss from my arm was making me light-headed.

I stumbled out to the street, squinting in the light from the streetlamps. I gritted my teeth to keep from yelling out in pain, and I wrapped my arm in jacket to avoid dripping blood on the ground. If I got jumped now, there was no way I'd be able to survive. Good thing I healed twice as fast as a normal human.

I couldn't go to the hospital. What hospital knew who I was? Fang Ryder lived off the grid, on the edge. Injury was just an occupational hazard. I had to get back to my hideout and fix my wound. As I walked down the street, I heard rustling behind me. Again.

I whirled around just in time to see a shadow dart around the corner of a building. Frowning, I followed the shadow behind the corner of the building and saw a small figure leap over the chain-link fence.

My shoulder was killing me, but I decided to follow the figure. I had to know who it was, so I could… discourage them from messing with me ever again. I made my way down the alley and paused at the fence. Ten feet tall and topped with barbed wire, my favorite. Usually, I could easily scale the fence and hop over in a matter of seconds. But now, with my hurt arm…

I reached out to grab the fence and winced as a spasm of pain shot through my arm. Painfully, I hauled myself up and over the barbed wire, doing my best not to get torn into shreds. I dropped down on the other side and landed hard on my feet, then followed the figure down the alleyway and into a dead end. I could see the shadow on the brick wall, but the person who it belonged to was obscured by a large dumpster.

"Who are you?" I asked, shifting my makeshift bandage so it covered the wound. "Why are you following me?" No response. I pulled out my knife, which made my shoulder feel another spike of pain, and I tried not to wince. "I'm armed. Come out and have your hands where I can see them."

The shadow didn't move for a long time, then I heard a faint voice say, "I know you're hurt."

Immediately I registered that the voice was female. High-pitched, but still rough-sounding. The girl couldn't be more than thirteen or fourteen, because she sounded unsure of herself. She probably hadn't lived on the streets for too long. "Come out." I said again.

"How did you get the package?" she asked me.

"Come out." I repeated. "I'm not in the mood for games."

There was some rustling, and finally the girl stepped out. I was right –she looked to be about fourteen years old, with curly, unruly black hair and dark skin. She had a serious expression on her face and I couldn't help grinning.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked, tensed. Her stance showed that she was ready for a fight, ready to pounce.

"I just can't help thinking how obvious it is that you're new to this. For one thing, you're unarmed. And another –you've just run yourself into a dead end. No escape route." I sat down on an empty crate and stretched my legs out. "Always have an escape route, that's rule number one."

Out of nowhere the girl pulled out a gun and pointed it at my head. "I _am_ armed. Rule number two –always conceal your weapon." She nodded at my knife, which I was still holding.

I grinned. "Okay. Maybe you're right. Gun trumps knife." I dropped my knife on the ground and kicked it over to her. She immediately picked it up and stowed it in her pocket. "Now, you're armed, and I'm not. What are you going to do?"

She didn't move at first, but kept her gun firmly trained on me. "Give me everything else you have."

Shrugging, I kicked over my knapsack. She immediately dropped the gun and began rifling through it. "Hey, whatever you're looking for, I don't think you'll find it there." I said casually.

She picked up the gun and moved closer, still holding it to my forehead. "Where's the package?"

My smirk flickered as I remembered J.J. and his goons. "I traded it." I muttered.

"You _what_?" she yelled, holding the gun to my head once more. "Why?"

"Hey, girl, it's not your business what my business is!" I said, getting annoyed. "What's so important about that stupid package anyway?"

She dropped the arm holding the gun and looked at me incredulously. "You… don't know?"

I hated feeling like I didn't know something that I was supposed to. But what was the point in lying? "No. Now, either shoot me or stop holding the gun in my face, okay?"

She dropped the gun and sat on the ground –far enough that I couldn't reach her but close enough that I could hear her whisper. "I've been following you for a while."

"How long?" I demanded. I _knew_ it.

She didn't look at me, but began fingering my knife. "About three days. I knew you were in possession of the package, but I didn't know how you got it. And I didn't know you traded it."

"I needed the money."

"Where's the money?"

I smirked again. "Are you trying to rob me?"

She looked frustrated. "That package was valuable! It was… I can't believe you let it get out of your possession!"

I raised my arm and winced at the pain. "Look –I don't know who the hell you are and why you've been following me, and I don't know why you care about a damn package so much. Get out of my sight before I rip your throat up!"

"You're hurt." She nodded at my shoulder, which was dripping blood again. "You couldn't rip my throat up if you tried."

"Try me." I grunted.

"You can't go around like that. Look how much blood you lost! You'll die."

"It's just a knife wound. Occupational hazard. I'll recover."

"Can I…?" she asked, gesturing to my shoulder. I stared at her and she flushed red. "I know how to set a wound. I learned how. I can help you."

"I work alone." I snarled, pushing her back. The blood loss from my arm was making me feel light-headed.

Without flinching, the girl gently took off my makeshift bandage and began cleaning my wound with the same dirty rag. I tried not to grimace at the pain. I watched hazily as she ripped up another old cloth into strips and placed them on my shoulder, forming a better bandage. She sat back, finally, having stopped the blood flow from my arm. I looked up at her, unable to comprehend what had just happened. "I can help you." she repeated.

I tried moving my arm. It hurt a lot less, for one thing. "Well, I'm not going to trust you for quite a while. You held a gun to my face twelve times. I need a name first. At least."

"My name?"

"Yeah."

She looked up and I finally saw her eyes –deep chocolate brown. Interesting. Different. Intriguing. "Nudge."

I grinned and –with difficulty –held out my injured arm. She shook it gingerly. "Well, Nudge, let's get out of here to somewhere safe. You owe me a _very_ long explanation."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_MAX POV_

Hi-yah! "Take that!" I gave a swift punch to my opponent's forehead, causing him to scrunch up his face in pain. I loved that face. It looked weird and funny. I kicked him and punched him three more times, causing him to fall to the ground.

"One… Two… Three…" The ref began. I found myself crossing my fingers, hoping he wouldn't get up. If I won, this would be a great day for me, Max. The underdog defeating the reigning champion. I leaned in towards the screen closer as the counter reached ten, signifying that my opponent had been KO-ed.

"Yes!" I yelled, pumping my fists in the air. "I won!"

Next to me, Dylan wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Well done, Max. You were a worthy opponent. Too bad I decided to go easy on you."

I shoved him. "Yeah, yeah. I'm just better than you at Kinect. Face it."

Dylan laughed and wrapped his arms around me. "Yeah. You are. I still don't get how you punch that fast…"

I shrugged. "Practice."

He planted a quick kiss on my forehead. "Okay, we have to get ready now."

I groaned. "Do we have to go? Can't we just stay here and play Kinect Sports more? It's so cool –you don't even need a remote!"

He grinned. "That's what you said the first hundred times you played it. And of course we have to go –It's Angel's day and she'd kill us if we didn't."

"Some angel." I muttered, smiling. "You're right, of course. She'd kill me if I didn't show up."

"As I always am." Dylan said, looping his arm through mine. "Now go get ready. Make yourself pretty. Or, you know, just dress up. You're already beautiful."

I blushed. Dylan always said things like that that made me feel wonderful. No wonder he was literally the greatest boyfriend in the history of the planet. I trudged upstairs to my room, which was at the corner of the house. Rifling through my closet, I realized that I had no idea what one wore to a poetry slam.

My twelve-year-old sister Angel had written a poem and was going to be reciting it at the local coffee shop. It wasn't exactly a movie premiere, but she was really excited and I wanted to be there for her. Trouble was, I had nothing to wear.

I wasn't into fashion and all that like normal girls –I usually just wore jeans or sweats with a random shirt on top. Dylan didn't care. He said I was and always would be the most beautiful girl on the planet. Sometimes I looked at him and wondered how in the h-e-double hockey sticks did I land the handsomest, Playboy-magazine worthy guy on the planet. But of course we're together. We had to be together. Dylan and I –and Angel –were the only people I knew on Earth that were special.

And by special, I mean that we had wings.

Not the wings made out of paper that Da Vinci tried to invent. No. The three of us –we're mutants. Experiments. Trials that only ended up 98% human –and two percent bird. Don't get me wrong. Being a bird kid had its ups. Like, I could fly, and kick butt twice as hard as any normal kid could. But it also had its downs. Dylan, Angel, and I couldn't stay in one place for longer than a few months. We didn't have social security numbers or bank accounts. We couldn't make lasting friendships or have real families. All we had was each other –our little family.

Currently, Dylan and I were seniors at the local Pittsburg high school (can't say the exact name for security reasons). Angel was a seventh grader over at the middle school. Being mutants, we were way smarter than the average slacker senior that just about gave up on school. So we had to dumb ourselves down a bit to match the populous. It was _torture_. School by itself? Yuck. School where I had to pretend I was a C+ student? _Send me to the dentist's office instead_.

I finally decided on dark jeans (you know, more formal) and a blue tank top. As I got dressed it occurred to me that I'd be freezing. It was March. "Whatever." I muttered, tying my blonde hair into a ponytail. If I froze, I froze.

I liked to live in the moment. It made life that much more exciting –not that I needed any more excitement.

The cold draft from the window made me shiver and I decided to suck it up and put on a freaking jacket.

**I know this chapter was really short (compared to the last one) but there will be more Max very soon I promise! Remember to review, lovelies! **

**- ZipUnZipIt**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back! Enjoy this next chapter -it's mostly filler and a set up for major events soon to occur, but let me know what you think. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! And happy holidays! **

**Love, ZipUnZipIt 3**

_FANG POV_

Fifteen minutes later, we were at my hideout, which was cleverly secluded from the street, the air, the town, everything. The only way someone could find it was if they were hiking deep in the Appalachian forest and decided to climb a tree, for some odd reason. Damn photographers.

I decided to take the hard way and climb, for Nudge's sake. I barely knew this girl, and nothing would have stopped me from gutting her right then except for the fact that if she hadn't patched me up, I probably would have drowned in my own blood. Just a hazard of working alone sometimes. But she already knew the location of my secret hideout, which I had never told anyone before. I didn't owe her any more information than that.

Pain rippled through my shoulder as I climbed. Shit. I doubted I could fly to the top even without Nudge there.

Yeah, I said _fly_.

The reason I have superhuman strength and speed, the reason I have incredible agility, the reason I have been able to survive alone for seventeen years –it's because I'm not entirely human.

I was an experiment, created by a plethora of stupid-ass scientists who wondered what would happen if they injected bird DNA into a human embryo. Oh, they tried it hundreds of times before, with different animals. No other human –animal hybrid survived past infancy, if that. But, for some reason, when the bird DNA hit me –I survived.

I reached the top of the tree where my little hut existed, and I pulled Nudge up after me. She looked around, apparently in awe, then noticed me watching and immediately rearranged her features into one of stoic indifference. "Nice place." she mumbled, watching me expertly maneuver around the branches of the tree. "You… live here?"

I nodded. "Temporarily, anyway." Then I slammed my mouth shut. Why was I relaying my life story to this girl?

She sighed. "It's cute. Better than where I live, anyways. It's better than nowhere."

For the first time, I felt a pang of pity for this girl. How exactly did she come to be here, in the middle of nowhere? What had she gone through in her life?

More importantly, what was in that package?

Nudge watched as I created a small fire from old twigs, dry leaves, and a lighter. (Survival Tip One: No matter how skilled you are, you _cannot_ create a fire from a magnifying glass and paper. Or by rubbing two pieces of flint together. All you'll get is a few measly sparks. If you want to survive, invest in a lighter for two bucks. Or, you know, steal one. Not saying I did, but…)

"So tell me." I said, once the fire got going. "Why were you following me?"

Nudge looked towards the fire and back at me. "Won't the smoke show people where we are?" she asked. Man, this girl really had a bad habit of answering questions with a different question. That had to be fixed.

I sighed. "No, the smoke won't attract people to our location. The leaves block it, but you'll notice I left a little opening, like a chimney, for the smoke to filter out so we won't suffocate. That answer your query?" _And any other ones you might have?_

She nodded. "I was following you because… well… I saw you before."

Huh. "Doing what?"

She paled and scooted closer to me. When she whispered, I could barely hear her over the crackle of the fire, and I wasn't sure if I misheard what she said next. "I saw you flying."

_MAX POV_

It was midwinter again, and you know what that meant for every average high school student across America. Finals week, yay!

Note the sarcasm, please.

I was sprawled on the living room floor of my friend Ashley's house was trying to study for… chemistry, I think. Being a secret bird kid, I was thankful for the colder weather, which meant I could cover up my extra appendages (wings) with a sweater instead of making up excuses as to why I couldn't wear tank tops and bikinis like the rest of the girls. My favorite excuse was, _I haven't shaved in three weeks. _

Life was peaches. And other fruit. It was a freaking fruit basket filled with flies and maggots, is what it was.

Ashley's super-shrill voice jolted me back to the present and I forced a smile. She elbowed me. "Katie heard from Ilya who swears she was told by Jennifer that Sophie thinks her chem lab partner is _hot_."

Come again? "That's hilarious." I said, grinning. _I didn't get a word of that._ Sometimes I wished I was a dude like Dylan, because all he had to do to fit in was be good at basketball and spend all his money at Burger King.

For me, navigating the tricky girlish hierarchies of secondary school was harder than learning programming. And even though I taught myself how to code Dylan's phone so it always kept Happy Birthday as his ringtone no matter what he changed it to, the rules of girl behavior seemed to change daily. I had only been at this particular high school for about two months, and I had no idea who the hell Ilya or Jennifer or Sophie was. Did I care? Not unless it related to me personally. And the things that usually related to me personally usually involved Eraser attacks.

More on that later.

"Who's Jennifer's lab partner again?" I asked dutifully.

Ashley laughed. "Oh my God, Max. What planet are you living on? He came here the same day you did! It's Dylan!"

I kind of choked on the piece of gum I was chewing right then. Dylan and I, to maintain anonymity, usually pretended we weren't dating. Or related. In fact, we kind of pretended we had no idea who the other was. Because how strange would it be if the hottest boy in school showed up with a pretty –average looking girl on his arm?

Pretty damn weird.

I forced a grin. "Really? She should go for it! I heard he wasn't dating anyone." Jeez, _if that Jennifer girl really went after Dylan, someone was getting their throat ripped out._

Ashley shook her head. "Nah. I kind of heard he was into someone else."

My face felt hot. It must have been burning. Aaah, I was really bad at this. "Who?"

She grinned. "I think he's into Sara, actually."

_Dylan was getting his ass kicked_. "What would make you think that?" I asked casually.

"He's in my Calculus class and he keeps looking at her like she's the best thing in the world! Like, he's really good at math, and just that _look_ he gives her when he helps her… it's not hard to decode the meaning behind it!" She looked at me.

I was smiling too forcefully. "Good… for him." I said eventually.

"Hey, don't worry, Max." Ashley said. "You'll find someone. It's not like there's only one boy in the universe that's fit for you, is there?"

Oh, ha ha friggin' _ha_. "Let's just study polar bonds." I mumbled.

_FANG POV_

I was speechless, silent. Just like that, my world crashed around my ears. I thought I had been so _careful_, so _painstakingly_ quiet about my movements –but just like that, this girl found out my secret.

_What should I do_? The question bounced around my ears. I couldn't let her go now. Who knew who she'd tell, what allies she had. I couldn't keep her with me. That was impossible. I worked alone, survived alone. I couldn't kill her…

Could I kill her?

No. No. I was many things –a liar, a thief, but I was not a killer. I was ashamed for even thinking about it. Finally, I spoke. "So… you're not scared."

Nudge shook her head. "No."

"Why not?"

Instead of answering, she shifted her position on the branches. I tensed, in case she was posing herself to jump me –but instead, she removed her jacket. I watched, silent, as Nudge unfurled a pair of tan, brown-speckled –

"Wings." I said, my voice hushed. Unbelievable.

I wasn't the only one?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4! Thanks for reading and reviewing so far! Happy 2015! **

_FANG POV_

I was speechless beyond comprehension. This girl… had _wings_? Wha… How… _What_?

Nudge spoke up first. "I'm sorry if… I scared you. I just couldn't believe it when I saw you flying. I alwaus knew thee wee others like us out there, but I didn't know how to find them or where to. "

"Wait… there are others? Others with wings?" I asked quietly, unbelieving. No. I was the only one, after… what happened at the School. I had always been the only one.

Nudge nodded. "That's what I've been told. Others with wings. And not just wings, either. The School created tons of experiments, mixing animal DNA with human DNA."

"I know." I say. "They all failed."

"Not the ones that came after you."

I was silent for a moment, nodding. "Fine. Okay. Good. So… there were mutants successfully created after me. Of course." It would make sense –except for the fact that I never even considered there were others like me.

"You didn't know?" Nudge asked me quietly.

I went mute. I had been alone for my whole life, and in my seventeen years of living there was only one other mutant I had heard of beside myself. When I escaped from the School I failed to rescue him and… I am sure that they killed him. I refused to think about it any longer because I had to be strong, and that memory only served to weaken me. Nudge must have realized that I wasn't going to talk anymore and fell silent herself, and we watched the leaves rustle for a few quiet minutes.

"They've been chasing me all the way from Washington D.C." she said, breaking the silence.

"What? The scientists?"

She shook her head. "No. They're called Erasers. Part –man, part –wolf. They were one of the School's newer experiments, created specifically to eradicate people like us from the face of the earth."

"Furry murderers."

"Well, kind of. You haven't seen them yet, have you?"

"No."

"Then you're lucky. They show no mercy –none at all. Their only goal is to kill, kill, kill." She rolled up her sleeve and I saw three long, deep, nasty-looking gashes running down the length of her forearm. "The last time they caught me was in Memphis. I only just got away."

Hot damn. This just gets more and more lovely, doesn't it?

I stood up. "I'm going for a walk. Alone. I need to process all this. And I'm taking your gun, so don't think you can try anything. If you're gone when I come back, I won't miss you."

Nudge didn't answer, just turned her back to me and sat down.

I took off through a clearing in the leaves and breathed the cold, crisp night air, pumping my powerful wings up and down. Fifteen feet wide, they were black feathers with small white specks, slowly lightening in color until you reached the soft white down at the tips of my wings. To me they were majestic, beautiful, extraordinary. How could the scientists not see that? Why couldn't they appreciate what they had created, instead of trying to slice every single one of us open like a scalpel and see hwo we worked?

I had never considered there might be others like me. I wasn't sure if I liked that or not. More mutants meant more danger. It meant there were even more whackjob scientists out there, experimenting on human lives. It meant there were even more enemies of mine. It meant that I was in even more danger than I thought I was.

I landed heavily on my favorite type of street –the classic deserted alleyway with a couple of dumpsters, a few cardboard boxes, a crazy homeless dude, and one side barred by a barbed-wire fence. Ignoring the stares I was getting from the homeless guy, I easily jumped the ten-foot-tall fence and turned around to see him staring at me, open-mouthed. Beyond caring, I took a little bow and continued walking. Behind me I could hear him mutter furiously about aliens to one of the dumpsters.

I was walking down a side road when I saw them. Three of them. They looked like middle-aged men, with rosy faces that I thought were just the result of a couple extra drinks. I nodded to them and kept walking.

Then they followed me, and I instinctively stated walking faster. Not again. I didn't know who they were –cops, maybe? I hadn't done anything wrong. Except beat the shit out of some stupid thugs, but they were asking for it. And where was the evidence? _Why the hell were these guys following me_?

I reached a dead end –the road ended, and instead I faced a decrepit tattoo parlor. It looked like it hadn't been open for a few decades, so it looked like I'd have to wait to get that dragon tattoo.

But I had more pressing issues at the moment. The cops were still closing on at me, grinning widely. In fact, their grins were so wide they looked almost –

Feral.

These guys were Erasers.

True to their description, they suddenly started morphing –growing fur, six-inch long claws, and ripping their clothes as muscles rippled. They were not werewolves. They were extremely ugly –and dangerous –lupine hybrids.

"Man." I whispered, in awe. I knew I was about to be shredded, but they were so _cool_ looking…

The first one said, in a voice so deep it sounded like a growl, "You're dead, Subject X-1."

Then they charged.

My senses went into hyperdrive. I pulled out my gun, only to find it had no bullets. Thanks, Nudge. I whacked one in the shoulder with it, which only made him angry, and he lunged towards me, taking a swipe at my chest. I dodged just in time, but I could feel the wind whooshing through his claws. I grabbed my nearest weapons –a garbage can lid and a cardboard box –and kicked one of the Erasers in the stomach while using the lid as a shield from another swipe.

They kept advancing, slightly too close for comfort. I threw the lid straight at the first Eraser's head. I heard a satisfying _clang_ as the lid met its mark, and the first one dropped like the big sack of fur he was.

But there were still two more, and I was running out of options. I was quickly learning how these guys fought. Big and lumbering, with huge meaty arms, they were all offense and no defense. I, on the other hand, was the perfect balance of offense and defense. I ducked another crushing blow and rolled out of the way as the Eraser tried throwing a garbage can at me. Holy shit, they were strong. I launched myself up at one of the remaining ones and kicked him hard in the gut. Before I could feel too good about that, the next one hurled a brick at my head and I just barely managed to dodge it.

Nudge was right –these guys showed no mercy.

"But neither do I." I muttered to myself. Years of training and enhanced reflexes came to fruition as I punched and kicked the shit out of those furry motherfuckers. However, it has to be said, there was a benefit for having two of them.

Eventually, one of them grabbed both my arms and pinned them painfully behind my back. I winced as a wave of pain coursed through my already injured shoulder. I tried hard to wrest my arms from the Eraser's grasp, but he was strong. He was even stronger than me.

The other one balled his fist and grinned evilly, before socking me in the gut.

What followed was the aftermath of possibly the hardest punch I had ever been doled in my whole life. I heard the crack of one or more ribs, went blurry-eyed as all the oxygen was squeezed out of my lungs, and I went weak-kneed just trying to stand. "Mother –fucker." I panted, trying to kick the Eraser. He just grinned at me and brought back his fist for another crushing blow, this time with his claws out , ready to pierce me–

_Crash_! Out of nowhere, a large, white box rammed into the Eraser and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Or maybe dead. After a few seconds, my vision became clear again and I realized it was a refrigerator. Oh, thank you, magical god of dilapidated kitchen appliances, for heeding my call! It was raining refrigerators.

I looked up to the sky, and saw a flying thing –way too big to be a bird. The thing landed and I realized it looked a lot like Nudge –hey, it _was_ Nudge.

"Fang!" she yelled. "Duck!"

Even in my slightly disoriented state I heeded her instructions and dived out of the way just as the Eraser that had been holding me saw a knife protruding out of his chest. Behind me was Nudge, panting as though she had just thrown a deadly projectile.

I collapsed on the ground, breathing hard. My stomach still _really_ hurt from the punch. Nudge landed next to me and knelt down next to me hurriedly. "Fang, are you all right?"

"We did it." I muttered, smiling slightly. Then another round of pain flashed through me and I closed my eyes.

"Fang, you're hurt. Badly." she said, her voice shaking.

I looked down and slowly moved my arm away from my chest. It was covered in blood. I saw four long gashes in my shirt, and I groaned. "What the –"

"He clawed you." Nudge whispered.

I groaned again. "Why do _I _always get hurt?"

"We have to get you out of here. Can you stand?"

"'Course I can stand, what kind of fighter do you think I am – Shit!" I had just tried to stand, but the pain in my chest was unbearable. I nearly collapsed again.

"Erasers found us. That's okay, it's no big deal, it's just that _they found us_. And if three of them know where we are, it means all of them know where we are. We could have an ambush at any moment." Nudge was pacing back and forth, running her fingers through her short hair. "And he's injured."

"Hey." I snapped, wincing at the pain. "If we have to get out of here, let's get out of here."

She looked at me, surprised. "You… want to work together? I thought you worked alone."

I clutched my middle and walked towards her. "This is the second time you saved my life in 24 hours. i owe you. And birds of a feather should stick together."

Nudge nodded. "Okay. We have to get out of here. Flying is out of the question, right? So we'll take a cab."

Five minutes later, Nudge and I were loaded into a yellow nightmare and speeding off towards god-knows-where. Nudge was silent, even though I was bursting with questions. Finally, she broke the silence. "So… you owe me. I know you were probably created the same way as me –in a test tube. But tell me, how did you escape, all by yourself? How was life by yourself?"

I sighed, my thoughts flashing back to that cold winter night, twelve years ago. I owed her. And she had saved my life twice. Maybe… just maybe… I trusted her.

I took a deep breath.

"For the first couple years of my life, I was alone. I was the only living avian-anthropoid on the planet, as far as anybody knew. I lived alone in a cage in the horrific laboratory where I was created for the first three years of my life. It was a long time before the scientists realized that I was… healthy. Alive. Capable of things that normal humans could only dream of (or accomplish with a Transformers suit). Once they realized that, life became a living hell. Experiments upon experiments were performed upon me, wanting to see how I functioned, how I breathed, how I could seamlessly integrate my human and bird DNA. _Look, it can stay underwater for up to an hour at a time because of its enlarged lung capacity! _Or, _look, it can run twice as fast as any other human because of its lighter bone density! _And even, _Subject X-1 has wings, but they are a useless part of its anatomy. It cannot fly –it remains tethered to the ground. _

"Then, when I was five, they invited me out of my cage for practically the first time. Wanted me to see their newest psychotic project. It involved a boy, my age, maybe a few months less. He had strawberry-blond hair, looking almost red in the surgeon lights. He was completely strapped down from his head to his feet, but the one thing I would never forget were his eyes.

"Bright blue, electric blue, and wide to the point where they were popping out of his sockets. I watched chilled, unable to move, as he made eye contact with me and mouthed one word – _Help_. I couldn't move, held in place by a squadron of pseudo maniac scientists who were watching with evil grins on their faces. And I watched, horrified, as the surgeons in the room pulled out their scalpels and two-foot-long knives and they… they…" I trailed off, unable to finish. Nudge looked horrified.

I cleared my throat. "He went blind after that experiment, and I was scarred for life. I knew I had to escape, and I formulated a plan. I tried to take him with me. We were the only two surviving mutants, and we tried to escape. We disguised ourselves as… corpses… and we tried to get out of there. But of course, something went wrong. He coughed. We were found out and about to be executed, killed like the rest of them. " I was groping for words, still getting faint shivers of the terror I had felt back then, almost twelve years ago.

"He sacrificed himself. Told me to run. I promised I'd be back for him but at that moment I just ran like the wind and never looked back. I heard the swing of the blade and the... sickening whack. They cut his head off. He never screamed once. And from that moment on, I was alone."

When I concluded the story I hastily turned around and pretended to look out the window in case my eyes started watering. They didn't, but better to be safe than sorry. I chanced a glance at Nudge, who looked horror-struck. She was pale, unable to form words.

"Sorry if I scared you." I mumbled, turning to face the window.

"No… it's just… that sounds a lot like someone I knew."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He helped me escape a few years ago. Great cook, brilliant tinkerer. He was literally the reason why I was able to get out of the School –he's a genius with building bombs, grenades, that kind of thing. He had a great sense of humor –he'd laugh at anything."

I frowned. How was this helping me –in any way?

Nudge continued. "I lost sight of him during a terrible Eraser attack. They captured him and sent him back to the School. It was the only time I'd ever seen the Erasers not kill someone upon contact. He was a brilliant fighter… and he was a great friend. But the thing that made him special was… he was blind."

**Does Nudge's special friend sound like anyone you know? Mystery! Shh... don't spoil it :)**


	5. Chapter 5

I literally flew home (hello, wings) as fast as I could and kicked the door open, throwing my bag on the ground. I was fuming. Angel looked up from the television, mildly surprised. "Um, hi –"

"Where's Dylan?" I snarled, looking around as if he might be hiding behind the potted plant in the corner.

Angel muted the TV and looked at me. "Um, I dunno. He went out, I guess."

"Went _out_. Okay." I sank into a chair and sighed. It was inevitable. Every time we switched schools, he would always flirt with all the girls, Every time we switched names, the girls would always flirt with him. On top of being worried for our survival, I had to worry about _his_ chastity 24/7. It was maddening. I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands. "Do you know who he went out with, by chance?"

"Um, some guys from your chemistry class, I think. And a girl. Sara, I think her name was." Angel looked at my barely concealed anger curiously. "Why do you think Dylan cheated on you?" she asked me petulantly. "And what's cash-tit-y?"

My eyes widened. Before I could formulate an answer to that, Dylan bounded through the front door, laughing. "A guy's two favorite things, Angel, let me tell you." He grinned at both of us while Angel looked back at him, confused, and I stared into my hands. "What's wrong?"

I stood up. "Who's Sara?"

Dylan looked confused. "What?"

"Don't act like you don't _know_. Who the hell is Sara?"

Dylan looked like he wanted to dart past me and out of the house. "I don't… I mean…"

"Sara's his lab partner in Chemistry." Angel said from the living room. "She's totally into him and he thinks he might feel the same way."

"Thank you, Angel." I called back, while looking furiously at Dylan. "_So_. A big, busty, curvy girl comes up and you forget all about our family, do you?"

"It was just a stupid crush!" Dylan yelled, looking at me pleadingly. "Did you honestly think I'd forget about you and Angel? You guys are my life!"

"I don't care!" I yelled back, pulling my hair out of its ponytail. "Don't you remember how Angel and I rescued you from that crate, all those years ago? Don't you even _care_ that we're the only three people with wings that we know, and we have to stick together?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean being unsocial and unpopular like you!" Dylan yelled back, breathing heavily for a moment, looking at me. Then his eyes widened slightly as he realized what he said. "Shit… Max, I didn't mean it like that…"

"Then what did you mean?" I ask him furiously. "Do you know how hard I've been trying to give Angel a good education while we're on the run from Erasers? I've tried so hard to give you guys a good life. And you're telling me that the only way to get ahead is by being _social _and _popular_. I'm sick of it! I'm sick of trying to pretend I know who the fuck are Katy and Mollie and Sarah, and I'm sick of thinking I'll lose you to them all the time!" I shake my head. "This isn't working."

Dylan looks at me nervously. "What isn't working?"

"This… idea that we can have a normal life. It's not working."

"Um, guys?" Angel ventured timidly.

"Not now, Angel!" Both Dylan and I yelled.

"What do you mean, this isn't working?" Dylan asks me angrily.

"I can't roam around, school after school, watching the same thing happen every damn time! The school thing isn't working, and if you think for a second it has to do with popularity, then you're just as shallow as the rest of them!" I yell.

"Well then, what else do you propose we do?" Dylan shouts back. "We can't just up and away and get a clean slate! Life doesn't work like that, in case you haven't noticed –"

"I haven't noticed? _I _haven't noticed? You're the one going around sticking it to every girl who bats her eyes at you –"

"GUYS!" Angel screamed. We pause, staring at her. She looks at us slightly forebodingly. "You might want to stop yelling and get ready. The Erasers found us."

In case you're wondering how Angel knew that, she can read minds. Bit of a surprise to me when I found out, but I've learned to censor my thoughts around her (for the most part, anyway).

In case you're wondering what was going on in _my_ mind, I was only thinking one thing: _This was all Dylan's fault_.

* * *

><p><strong>I know it's a short chapter, but I was tired and didn't have the energy to write an action-packed, Eraser-butt-kicking chapter complete with spicy plot twist. (Side note: now you know what to expect from the next chapter!)<strong>

**Max _will_ return... right after I take a long nap. **

**Thanks for reading! **


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